Delhi Metro closes gates of Tikri Border, three other stations
What's the story
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Monday announced that entry and exit gates at four stations on the Green Line will remain closed.
The four stations are Brigadier Hoshiar Singh, Bahadurgarh City, Pandit Shree Ram Sharma, and Tikri Border.
The announcement comes as the protests by Farmers against the central government's new agricultural laws have intensified.
Here are more details.
Details
Delhi Police issues traffic alert for ISBT Anand Vihar
The DMRC said in a tweet on Monday, "Entry/exit gates of Brigadier Hoshiar Singh, Bahadurgarh City, Pandit Shree Ram Sharma and Tikri Border are closed."
Issuing a road traffic alert, the Delhi Traffic Police had also tweeted earlier in the day, "Traffic will remain affected on Road no. 56 from ISBT Anand Vihar to Ghazipur due to closing of border."
Protest
Farmers protesting against three laws passed last September
The protesting farmers have blocked several of Delhi's borders including Singhu, Chilla, Tikri, Ghazipur, and the Haryana-Rajasthan border.
The farmers have been protesting against the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
The laws were passed in September last year.
Protest
Protesters have camped at Delhi's borders since November
Over several months, the farmers' agitation has only become more intense.
The protests intensified in November-end as thousands of farmers from several states reached Delhi, camping at the city's borders.
Farmers fear that by allowing trade outside APMC mandis, the laws will weaken the mandis and they would be deprived of Minimum Support Prices (MSPs), leaving them vulnerable to exploitation by corporations.
Talks
Government's efforts to resolve protests fall through
Notably, the central government has held 11 rounds of talks with farmer leaders and has proposed to suspend the laws for 18 months.
However, the farmers remain firm on their demand for a complete rollback of all three laws.
The government has made no indication that it is open to further negotiation and no date has been set for another round of talks.
Recent news
Last week, farmers' R-Day tractor rally turned violent
The protests have amplified in the aftermath of the Republic Day tractor rally staged by farmers on January 26.
Despite agreeing to a plan for the rally, the protesters broke police barricades and launched the rally early. The police resorted to teargas shelling and baton charging the protesters.
Some protesters breached the Red Fort and hoisted a Sikh flag.